The Living Wage Concept
The idea of a living wage is key to creating the society that the Green Party wishes to see. A living wage is enough money that someone who is working a full-time job – 40 hours in Kentucky – can afford decent housing that is properly heated and cooled, clothing, food, and other basic necessities. In most places, the living wage is
significantly higher than the legal minimum wage.
In Frankfort, Kentucky’s capital city, the legal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. According to Penn State University’s living wage calculator, the living wage for one adult is $7.29 per hour while that number increases to $14.49 for one adult and one child. That means that anyone with one child making less than $14.49 an hour won’t be able to afford basic care items without assistance.
The basic idea of living wage campaigns is to use these numbers to demonstrate to local and state leaders that the current minimum wage being required simply isn’t enough to allow families to support themselves.
One of the keys to the living wage project that make it a player in politics is that the living wage is based on working adults. The people who do not make a living wage are working, which makes them more sympathetic to folks who may oppose government “handouts” in other arenas. The living wage issue isn’t about welfare or having extra money to spend at an online casino; it’s about equality.
A University of California study of workers at the San Francisco Airport showed that turnover dropped by almost 70 percent when the administration there enacted a living wage because pay rates rose by an average of 22 percent. That meant that employees were less likely to leave, saving the airport significant money in hiring and training new employees. Overall the living wage concept is beneficial to communities, business owners, and workers.
Have you ever heard about Living Wage Campaigns
Have you heard of the famous campaign Living Wage? You know what? Usually this is a requirement that employers have to pay a minimum wage to their employees. The U.S. federal government has a minimum wage of $ 5.15 per hour which is not enough to live, even if you work 40 hours a week. The hirer will not likely raise their worker’s wage voluntarily in most case, that’s why the government have to set the rule to make sure the overall population is living at least up to the standards.
Although the United States is considered to be the richest country in the world, the distance between the rich and the poor is widening. Some people still have to work for pennies (at around 5 dollars an hour with no added benefits). AS the inflation is taking over, these poor people find it hard to survive. Although they work long hours they still cannot manage to have even the slightest form of facility to smooth their lives.
The Livig Wage Campaign has been accepted by 79 cities including San Francisco, Los Angeles and Boston. In Los angeles, the minimum wage now has been rasied to $6.15. AS more and more cities pass this ordinance, we can see a rasie in the living standards of the lower class.
Although the Living Wage Campaign still encounters some objections as well as difficulties from various parties, we believe it will be a great success in the near future. A rich nation must be a nation in which all citizens have a high living standard. A nation cannot be considered rich if it has a too broad distance between the rich and the poor. By setting high minimum wage, we can help the poor cope with the economy. And as we come to develop more policies in the future, we are confident that we can gradually shorten the distance between the richest family and the poorest one.